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Old battery operated "emergency" TV question

KarenLK said:
Once Feb. comes, will this go into the trash?? It has no plug and only a chintzy antenna.
Click to expand...


You'll probably find it won't pick up the new programmes, but it might still be OK with the repeats of 'I Love Lucy' :hysterical:
 
Back in the bad old days, we used to feed cable to an old TV with no external input by taping one lead of a balun (round thing with two screw terminal leads coming out of it) and connecting the cable feed to the connector on the balun.

We then would pickup the signal coming from the cable through the TV tuner. You likely could do this with an DTV converter box, but given how inexpensive low end TV's go these days with external inputs...it's likely time to retire that little TV.
 
Once they make the conversion, you will not be able to tune into any off-the-air signals received via the antenna. So its use as a portable without any auxiliary equipment will be a thing of the past.

Previous thread covering this subject:
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86078
 
Have any of the mfgrs come out with a small replacement digital TV that can be used in emergencies (for us hurricanes) that will take the place of those small TV's we will be throwing out?


Richard
 
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MULTIZ321 said:
Have any of the mfgrs come out with a small replacement digital TV that can be used in emegencies (for us hurricanes) that will take the place of those small TV's we will be throwing out?
Click to expand...
A few are starting to show up and there are sure to be many more.

Here's one at Radio Shack that has both an NTSC (analog) and ATSC (digital) tuner: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2855063
From the reviews it sounds like you'll only get good reception with its built in antenna if you're in a strong signal area. You can hook up an external antenna, however.

A quick Google search for "portable tv atsc" turned up a few others. Here's several of them:
http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-First-Battery-Powered-Portable/dp/B001EDF58E
http://www.sansonic.net/consumer/portable_atsc.asp
http://www.nextag.com/AXION-7-Widescreen-Portable-623838202/prices-html
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/bundlecity/items/item.aspx?itemid=2264159&CAWELAID=234097810

One alternate approach is to get an ATSC tuner that you can plug into a laptop computer. You'll still probably want to connect to an external antenna.
 
We have one of these. A 1.8-inch LCD TV bought over 10 years ago. It will be almost useless after the Digital conversion. In the event of Armageddon it may be useful as you may be able to pick up rogue signals put out by individual people and small groups. In the case of an Armageddon all regulation will be meaningless. You may want to hold on to it just in case.
 
Regarding those portable sets, it's interesting to note that while full service television stations will shut off their analog transmitters in February, Low Power TV stations have been moving off of UHF down into some of the VHF channels, particularly channel 6 here in SoCal. the scuttle-butt is these stations (LPTV) will remain on the air here.

Not that I'd necessarily be interested in the programming, but it may be worth scrolling through the lower channels before completely doing away with it.
 
MULTIZ321 said:
Wow, Elan - thanks for the link - that's a great price - the best prices I saw before seeing your link were between $70 -$90 dollars.

Thanks again.

Richard
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a good price. But it's ATSC (digital) only. So keep that in mind. Most of the more expensive units are hybrid (digital/analog), from what I've seen.

Jim
 
UWSurfer said:
Back in the bad old days, we used to feed cable to an old TV with no external input by taping one lead of a balun (round thing with two screw terminal leads coming out of it) and connecting the cable feed to the connector on the balun.

We then would pickup the signal coming from the cable through the TV tuner. You likely could do this with an DTV converter box, but given how inexpensive low end TV's go these days with external inputs...it's likely time to retire that little TV.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely try connecting my converter box that way. I've been sad that my 30+ yo 19" Sony Trinitron was going to have to go from my kitchen. Maybe there's hope.

We've tried other tvs there, but with rabbit ears, none have ever come close to matching the picture quality.

Sheila
 
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